Tulips Are Better Than One
by wingsofcosmos
Summary: In which Cana is incredibly attracted to Lucy, the flower shop girl, Mirajane is invested in her employee's love life, and Gray is exasperated. Modern tattoo/flower shop AU. One-shot. For Femslash February.


**This took me a while, but, admittedly, I was mostly procrastinating while working on this. It seems that when I finished writing 'Dancing in the Moonlight', I was able to finish this, so I'm really thankful for that. (I can't believe I had to look up flower pick-up lines for this, it was an experience.) This is for Femslash February, like the fic I uploaded yesterday (and I thought this would take me a few days to finish, to be honest).** ** _Gratsu is briefly implied in this fic, just a warning before you start reading._**

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoy :)**

* * *

It was just like any other day, the sky was almost cloudless, the sun was shining, and a gentle breeze swept through the street once in a while. There were many stores that took home in the street, from common grocers to flower shops and… tattoo parlours?

Lucy had noticed that one had opened up a couple of days before, replacing what used to be a massage parlour that didn't get that many customers. It wasn't large, but it wasn't small either, and it had a neon sign hanging from the window, flashing the word ' _Tattoo_ ' in bright red lettering.

She saw a surprising amount of people take interest in the tattoo parlour considering they had just opened recently. But it was a good thing for them, nonetheless, to have such business so recent in their opening.

Taking her attention off of the tattoo parlour from across the street, Lucy brought it to the bouquet of flowers she was crafting for someone's order.

Lucy loved flowers ever since she was a little girl, and it was all thanks to her mother's influence, who loved flowers as well. When she was alive, Layla Heartfilia used to always take Lucy to various gardens to look over the flowers and tell her the different meanings of each flower, no matter what type or colour.

The language of flowers was a beautiful one.

"Lucy, are you almost done with the order? The courier will be here soon." Mirajane, Lucy's boss and fellow worker, loudly asked from the back room.

"Yes, just a few more touches." Lucy replied, before putting her attention back to the bouquet.

Just then, the door chimed to signal someone's arrival. Lucy, thinking it was the courier for the flower arrangements, turned to smile, but was surprised to see a dark-haired woman with visible tattoos. Her intricately-made tattoo sleeve caught Lucy's attention, but she quickly looked back up at the woman to greet her.

"Hi! Welcome to 'Eternal Blossoms', how can I help you?" Lucy greeted from behind the counter, a warm and welcoming smile on her face.

The woman didn't say anything for a moment, and merely stared at Lucy in interest. She then smiled brightly. "Just wanted to come by and say 'hi'. I work at the tattoo place across the road and wanted to get to know the neighbours."

Lucy's eyes lit up with interest. "Really, you work there? I wasn't sure if I should come over and meet any workers, but it seems you've done it for me."

"Seems so," The woman chuckled, and looked at the flower arrangement in front of Lucy. "Nice flowers, they're beautiful. But not as beautiful as you."

"Uh, thanks." Lucy said with a small blush and a smile. "And I return the sentiment."

Cana chuckled, and was about to say something until she glanced at the clock on the wall. "Well, as much as I wanted to stay and chat, my break's almost over, which is a shame 'cause I haven't even gotten to know you at all."

"Well, maybe next time?" Lucy suggested, her smile not leaving her face.

"Sure," The woman grinned and looked at Lucy's name tag. " _Lucy_. You can call me Cana."

Lucy nodded. "Uh, sure, Cana. It was nice meeting you."

Cana grinned and leaned on the counter that was between her and Lucy. "It was nice meeting you, too. I hope we can get to know each other much better soon. You seem like a _very_ interesting person." She grinned again, and backed away from the counter. "See ya later, Lucy,"

The door chimed to signal Cana's exit, and Lucy stood there as she left. She looked at Mirajane, who stood at the doorway to the back room, and looked at Lucy with curiosity.

"Did that just happen?" Lucy asked.

"Seems like she's interested in you, Lucy." Mirajane responded with a smile, and Lucy suspects that she might be up to something.

"Maybe she's just a flirt…" Lucy said, suddenly unsure and conscious of herself.

"I don't think so, Lucy. Didn't you notice the way she looked at you when she entered? It was like you were a precious jewel or… a beautiful flower." Mirajane said, and Lucy thought she sounded a bit sly, but it was expected. Mirajane loved anything that involved relationships, and finding out that her employee had a potential love interest made her quite happy.

"Yeah, maybe." Lucy looked down and smiled slightly, her hands playing with the flower arrangement in front of her.

* * *

"Gray!"

The man jumped at the mention of his name, interrupting him from his sketching. "Cana, what-?" He stopped talking when he saw Cana at his table, her hands planted down at the tabletop.

"I need help." Cana blurted out, and Gray looked at her in surprise.

He sighed. "What do you need?" Gray asked as he grabbed his large coffee, still warm, knowing he'll need some energy in his system for this.

There was a small moment of silence before Cana deeply breathed in. "I think I'm in love."

Gray choked on his coffee. "What? Who?"

"Her name is Lucy, she works at the flower shop across the street." Cana sighed and sat on her roller chair that she dragged over.

"Never heard of her. I'm taking it that you just met her." Gray said as he stashed away his sketches.

"Yep, and she's lovely." Cana said.

"So, let me get this straight. You just met this Lucy person, and you came to the conclusion that you're in love with her? Really?" Gray surmised, incredibly perplexed.

"Well, yeah. And I need help asking her out." Cana folded her arms in front of her on Gray's table, looking straight at him, and seemed genuine.

"Okay, fine. But why would you need help with asking her out? You've done it plenty of times before." Gray inquired as he leaned back on his chair.

"Yeah, but I don't want to mess it up, y'know, She seems like someone I really want to care about. Like, I want it to be perfect." Cana remarked, and was silent for a moment. "How did you and Natsu get together, maybe that might help?"

"Cana, I don't think that would really help. The way Natsu and I got together is a bit, uh, unorthodox." Gray told her, looking quite certain of himself.

"Nah, don't be like that. I'm sure it's not what you're thinking." Cana urged.

"We argued and then had sex."

Cana looked at Gray in bewilderment. "…Yeah, that doesn't help at all."

"Thought so."

* * *

A week later, Lucy was preparing a flower arrangement order, and she was taking her time, like any other normal day at work. She was entirely focused on the arrangement, so when she looked up to find another flower to complement the arrangement, she jumped. Standing in front of her with a small smirk on her face was Cana, the woman who worked at the tattoo parlour across the road.

From the corner of her eye, Lucy could spot Mirajane at the doorway leading to the back room. She hid herself so that Cana couldn't spot her, and Lucy wasn't surprised she was there, knowing Mirajane would want to know everything about her employee's love life.

Cana leaned against the counter, looking quite smug. "Are you ivy? 'Cause you sure look vine."

Lucy choked on her sudden laughter, surprised at what she had heard. "Did you seriously use a pun as a pick up line?" She asked with wide eyes, her face red.

"I had to look it up. I thought you'd be more impressed." Cana admitted,still looking smug. She rested her forearms on the counter. "You wanna hear more?"

"Oh my god, I can't believe this. Go ahead, I want to know if they're good." Lucy said in amusement.

"Well, you've got the sweetest smile, I'd love to kiss those tulips." Cana smiled as she saw Lucy laugh. "You must be a rosebush, 'cause you've got me feeling thorny."

Lucy wheezed, and leaned on the counter for support. "Those are great, I love them." She started to slowly calm down, although her face remained red, and straightened back up again. "Okay, if you really wanted to ask me out, you could've plainly said it, I would've said 'yes' either way."

"Really?" Cana asked.

"Yes, really. But I really do like the creativity behind those lines." Lucy said as she smiled softly.

Cana smiled in return, and looked at Lucy. "So, I take it you wanna go out with me."

"Yes, I do. I didn't know if you really wanted to go out with me at first, but I realised that maybe you were actually serious." Lucy admitted with a sigh.

"Does that have to do with the woman who's badly hiding at the doorway." Cana said with a smirk, and a surprised squeal was heard.

Lucy laughed, and she looked to see Mirajane running away from the doorway. "Okay, maybe. So, date?" She asked with a hopeful look.

"Yeah, when and where do you want to meet?" Cana asked.

"I'll meet you at the front of the store at four o'clock this Sunday. That's when I finish my shift." Lucy said, and her smile widened when she saw Cana whoop.

"Yeah, great, I'll see you then." Cana was about to leave, until she turned around and leaned against the counter again. "I hope I'm not the only one that's feeling our love blossoming."

"Another one? How much do you have?" Lucy laughed once more.

"I can go on for an entire night. See ya, Lucy!" Cana said happily as she left the store with a skip in her step, the bell ringing as the door opened and closed to signal her leave.

Lucy smiled, and gazed at the bouquet in front of her. Cana seemed quite happy when Lucy agreed to go out with her, and even made the effort to use puns as pick-up lines, even if it was quite an unorthodox way to ask someone out. Perhaps that was part of her character, and if that was so, Lucy knew that Cana would be a fun person to know.

She knew she couldn't wait for their date, and she hoped that Cana felt she same. And, as Lucy remembered Cana's enthusiasm, she knew she was right. Lucy knew that, if their date turned out well, her life will become quite lively.

And Lucy knew that would be a great thing for her. For the both of them.

* * *

"Gray, I did it! She said yes." Cana excitedly exclaimed as soon as she saw her friend and work partner. He was, once again, at his desk and working on his sketches.

"Really? What did you do?" Gray asked in curiosity as he looked up from his work. There were no clients right now, so Gray was able to relax and work on his sketches.

"Puns." Was the only thing Cana said, and Gray coughed in surprise.

"Christ, really?" Gray said, as he laid his head on his hand in exasperation. "Was it as perfect as you wanted it to be?"

"Yeah, and she loved them." Cana said, her joy was obvious in her voice, and made a sound that Gray knew meant that Cana was completely smitten. "It was more than prefect, actually. She has a nice laugh."

"Then you'll be perfect for each other." Gray said, and although he sounded quite exasperated at his friend, he was very happy for her. It was about time she found someone that made her this happy, and he hoped that it will last. In his heart, he felt that it will.

"Hell yeah, we are."


End file.
